This invention relates to dispensing mechanisms for vending machines; and in particular gumball banks.
Gumball machines and gumball banks are popular items for home use. For example, small toy plastic gumball banks of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D158,529 have received wide acceptance. On the other hand, the commerical, metal-type gumball machine is only occasionally found in a home because such machines are prohibitively expensive. Recently, Oak Manufacturing Co. of California has introduced a large, metal, relatively expensive, antique-styled gumball machine for home use. In view of the wide acceptance of the toy plastic gumball banks, it was decided that a large plastic bank should be made available for home use.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a comparatively inexpensive, large, plastic gumball bank or machine for the home or consumer market.
The large, metal, gumball bank has features such as the dispensing mechanism similar to the well-known commercial metal gumball machines. Such mechanisms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,010,557; 3,064,789; and 3,289,152.
The dispensing mechanisms include coin-receiving mechanisms having means for preventing operation of the machine by preventing both forward and reverse rotation of the operator handle if no coin has been inserted while permitting operation and forward rotation of the operator handle after a coin has been inserted. One variation of this mechanism includes the ability to receive multiple coins and of different sizes and means for disabling the mechanism when such coins are not present. However, these mechanisms are: (1) complex in that they have been designed to withstand vandalism; (2) heavy-duty in that they must be reliable over long periods of constant usage; (3) require a substantial number of parts; and (4) expensive to manufacture.
The recently-introduced consumer-oriented metal machines have features shown in the above-identified patents. In this machine the coin-receiving mechanism includes a slotted, rotatable, metal, coin-receiving disc having a ratchet teeth about its periphery and a reverse rotation preventing system which includes a separate metal dog that is biased into the engagement with the ratchet teeth by a separate spring so as to prevent reverse rotation of the disc but to permit forward rotation thereof. The forward rotation preventing mechanism includes a second metal dog which is mounted rearwardly of the disc and biased so as to press against one side of the disc. When no coin is in the coin-receiving slot, the second dog can engage the trailing edge of the slot and thereby prevent forward rotation; while when there is a coin in the slot the second dog is disabled thereby permitting rotation.
In the design of the large plastic machine, it was apparent that coin-receiving mechanisms of the type used in the small plastic bank were unsuitable and that mechanisms of the type used in the metal machines were too expensive and required too many parts.
it is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide a coin-receiving mechanism for use in a large, consumer-oriented plastic gumball machine which can be inexpensively manufactured of plastic, includes a few parts and provides forward and reverse rotation prevention features.